


Holidays with Julie and her Ghost Boys

by NJ94



Series: The Chronicles of Julie and her Ghost boys [3]
Category: Julie and The Phantoms (TV 2020)
Genre: Alex Mercer Has Anxiety (Julie and the Phantoms), All the Boys Parents Suck, Bisexual Reggie Peters (Julie and The Phantoms), Boys slowly come back to life, Fluff, Holidays are weird, How Do I Tag, Mentioned Caleb Covington, More tags to be added, Multi, Post-Canon, Ray is the best dad ever, Reggie Peters Has ADHD (Julie and The Phantoms), Slight divergence from cannon, Some Plot
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-23
Updated: 2021-02-25
Packaged: 2021-03-13 07:15:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 9,150
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29647719
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NJ94/pseuds/NJ94
Summary: The holidays with Julies massive family (written and posted super late or really early lol) plus new years with Carrie and Nick (also really late or really early)
Relationships: Alex Mercer/Willie (Julie and The Phantoms), Flynn/Carrie Wilson, Flynn/Reggie Peters (Julie and The Phantoms), Julie Molina/Luke Patterson, Nick/Reggie Peters (Julie and The Phantoms)
Series: The Chronicles of Julie and her Ghost boys [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2112783
Kudos: 22





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> It starts kinda abruptly post time skip but I promise it's good.  
> Christmas part 1 of 4.

There had been a lot of Rose's family around for Day of the Dead, and for Thanksgiving but apparently, they were spending Christmas with Ray's family. So after Julie's school let out for Christmas break on the 22nd of December they packed up the car for a road trip and a few days with Ray's family. The boys were invited of course now that they were basically alive again and they couldn't poof to a place they didn't know where it was, so they were staying invisible, to prevent questions. Ray's family thought that the boys were taking a bus to join them for Christmas since they were supposed to live somewhere else. Instead, they were just sitting wherever invisible in the car. Carlos had won rock paper scissors and had claimed, shotgun. The car was a typical SUV with two seats in the middle, three seats in the back, an empty area behind the back seats instead of a trunk. The whole back area was filled with their bags. Flynn was also with them, her dad was on a business trip and her mom was driving up to join them on Christmas eve, but she wanted to come up early with the Molina's. So Reggie was sat, on the floor between the two middle seats so he could talk with Flynn via notebook for the trip. Willie and Alex occupied the other seat although Willie was also sat, on the floor between the back of the driver's seat and the seat Alex sat in. Julie and Luke had claimed the three back seats also talking quietly and working on something in Luke's songbook. To anyone except the people who knew about ghosts, it looked like Julie and Flynn were just doodling in notebooks and the rest of the car was empty. 

It was about a four-hour drive to bishop California in the mountains where there would hopefully be snow, and they left in the late afternoon, plus it was winter so it was dark before too long. Julie pulled a blanket from behind the back seat and kicked her shoes off on the floor curling her legs up in the seat and using Luke's shoulder as a pillow. Luke looked around realizing it was dark, he had been so focused on the Christmas song Julie and he was working on he hadn't noticed. Julie was close to asleep even though it was only 8 o'clock, Luke didn't blame her through the dark and the warm car was making him sleepy too. Plus she had a test right before they left today. Reggie had fallen asleep with his head on Flynn's lap solid but invisible still, and Willie had his head against Alex's knees. 

He saw Ray glance in the rearview mirror blink a few times glance at everyone else he could see who were mostly asleep.

"Luke, it looks like Julie is resting her head on thin air, your mind?" He asked, Luke, turned himself visible looking sheepishly at his girlfriend's father. "Who all is asleep and where is everyone sat?" Ray asked, making small talk.

"I think everyone else is asleep Willie and Reggie are on the floor Alex is sitting in the other seat up there," Luke said pointing to the middle row even though Ray couldn't look since he was driving. "Alex said it didn't matter if no one was gonna see him, it's illegal to sit in, the floor, I think he just wanted the seat," Luke continued. His fingers began running absentmindedly through Julie's hair. 

"Well he has a point about it being illegal, another good reason for them to stay invisible," Ray agreed.

"OK walk me through our cover story again?" Luke asked after a few minutes of silence.

"You boys took a bus to come to spend Christmas with your bandmate, you have met in person before but when she first meets you she thought you were from Lund Sweden, you are actually from Lund Nevada which is only a 4-hour bus ride from where my family lives," Ray explained. "When she first met you she told everyone you were from Sweden, so we needed to find a city that also existed in Sweden that she could have gotten confused with, we considered a number of Sweden cities and Stockholm's on the east coast or the midwest that would explain for the time difference and connection issues, but we realized there is no way you guys came all the way from that far on a bus to spend Christmas with her, and it was unrealistic for a bunch of 17 and 18-year-old boys to take a plane," he explained. "So we settled on Lund, and when we are done with Christmas you are coming back to live with us for the spring and summer." He explained. "Flynn's driving up with us today but her mom is taking her home so there will be enough seats on the way back," Ray added. "It's actually a perfect cover story for when we get back to LA after Christmas so you guys can resume life among the living. Except that you are still 17 and 18 so you need to spend your days in the studio pretending to be doing online school, which no you don't have to understand cause you're not actually doing it." Ray was definitely enjoying this a little too much. 

"Only Reggie would be 17," Luke realized. "Alex was a month from being 18 when we died, and my birthday passed in October, and Willie was 19 when he died I'm pretty sure." He added. "Not that I'm trying to correct you, sir." He apologized realizing how that sounded. Instead of getting stern with him like any adult ever in Luke's life Ray just laughed.

"How many times have I told you to call me Ray, Mijo?" He asked. Luke just smiled, he loved Ray, all the boys loved Ray, he was like the dad none of them ever had. Even if his dad wasn't abusive or homophobic, they weren't very close. 

Ray had bought them new backpacks just for the trip and they had acquired some new clothes over time since they were basically alive again. They weren't alive legally of course because they were well dead, and even if they weren't dead they would be in their 40's but other than that they were basically alive except they still had their cool ghost powers.

"We are staying with my sister. She has a huge hunting lodge, so it has a big communal area with an industrial kitchen, and then a lot of like hotel-style bedrooms, and bathrooms." Ray explained. "That's why she hosts Christmas." He explained.

"That makes sense," Luke agreed "how much further is it now?" He asked.

"About 30 minutes from Bishop and she lived another 15 minutes out of the main part of town. We gotta go there first and drop Carlos and the luggage off and then come back to pretend to pick you guys up. The bus you are supposed to be on comes in at 10 pm. Flynn wants to film the band reunion for social media." Ray explained. 

"Great" Luke leaned back against the seat, continuing to run his fingers through Julie's curls. 

*approx 2 hours later*

Julie was now sat, in the front passenger seat and Flynn was sat, strategically behind her with the window down despite the fact that it was 30 degrees out. The bus station was dark, the bus the boys were supposed to be on was the last bus of the night, they were gathered just inside the door. Ray had pulled the car up so the passenger door was facing the bus station. The boys exited the station, each with a backpack over their shoulder, Reggie and Luke each had a guitar case as well, although of course Reggie's held his bass, not a guitar. Willie held his skateboard under one arm. Alex's hands were free although if you looked closely you could see drum sticks sticking out of his back pocket. For their cover story of course Alex's drum kit was being shipped down to LA. Flynn also knew that this fourth boy no one had ever seen would cause questions, Alex had been surprisingly willing to admit to the people on social media that this was his boyfriend. So when she made the Instagram post she was gonna include a photo or two of them looking cozy. 

First, she got a short video of Julie flinging herself out of the car with an exclamation of 'Luke' and running towards him flinging herself into his arms. It was mostly for show but only because she had been sitting with him in the car 5 minutes ago, that was about how she reacted after not seeing him all day, much less supposedly for 4 weeks. She got a really cute photo of them embracing under the Christmas lights hanging from the awning of the bus station, and another of them kissing under the mistletoe. She got a few photos of Willie and Alex looking equally cute. She had wanted to get a picture of Reggie kissing her cheek but she had supposedly only met the band in person once. She had also done one Instagram live video interview, they had set up in Ray's guest room. Willie had been in that but only as a male voice calling, one of the guys babe right before the interview ended, they did it on purpose. She captioned the post 'the band is back' which for some reason the boys laughed at. Then they all piled in Ray's car now visible. The hunting lodge was full of people, this was the boys' first big gathering since they became alive again, sure they had performed a few times but they had still been, pretending to be holograms. Ray's family was assigned three rooms all near each other, Ray and Carlos shared a room with a queen bed, Julie had her own although Luke would probably join her at some point, the two might as well have been joined at the hip, and the boys had the third room with two beds. Which was fine they were used to piling onto one bed. Flynn had her own room too further down the hall she would share with her mom when she got there. It was late and they were all tired from their day of traveling and a lot of the family was already in bed. So our group decided to call it a night.

Luke as predicted shows up in Julie's room dressed in sweatpants, Julie smiled, she was already in bed. She pulled the blanket back for him to crawl in, resting her head on his chest. Ever since his heart had started beating again this had become a somewhat ritual of theirs. At least three nights a week he would crawl into bed with her and she would fall asleep to the sound of his heart. She loved to cuddle and another reminder that he was alive and here with her, was the best thing for nightmares she still had of losing them. Luke sighed in content, the bed was already nice and warm. Not that he was cold the lodge was nice and warm for such a large place. Julie smiled and burrowed deeper into the blankets and against Luke. Luke kissed her forehead and yawned, blinking his eyes closed as they fell asleep.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Christmas part 2 of 4 is the 23rd and then there will be one chapter for Christmas eve and one chapter for Christmas day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Late again sorry

Julie and Luke slept late the next morning, All the boys had already met Ray's family and had breakfast by the time Luke showed up. The boys had covered for him, they knew where he was but no one had to know Julie and Luke were sleeping in together, only that they were both sleeping in. Luke emerged from the boys' room, thank goodness for teleportation, rubbing sleep from his eyes wearing sweatpants and a 90's band t-shirt. He walked outside to the main part of the lodge where there were more people than he could count eating from a literal breakfast buffet. He had left so Julie could take a shower, so it was 20 minutes later that Julie also joined them wearing a pair of Christmas pajama bottoms and one of Luke's Flannels. It hung off her arms and reached her thighs. But no one would know it was Luke's unless they had seen him wear it, which she highly doubted she had stolen it almost as soon as he bought it. If it wasn't for the fact that Luke had seen her in her Pajamas, short sleep shorts, and one of his t-shirts that was too big even on him, he would have thought she had just gotten out of bed. She just looked too cute and he knew her hair which she had to have blow-dried smelled amazing, he couldn't help but pull her against his side and bury his head in her hair when he got the chance. 

"Good morning," she giggled against his side.

"If I remember correctly you already told me good morning," he whispered into her hair.

"Oh hush you," she swatted at his shoulder. If it wasn't for the sheer number of people in the lodge and the fact that they were in a secluded corner, sheltered by the absolutely massive tree Julie was sure people would have noticed them acting like an old married couple. 

"I think you will forgive me because I got you coffee," he smirked, handing her the mug of very blonde coffee just the way she liked it. She took a sip.

"OK you're forgiven," she agreed, stealing a bite of his scrambled eggs. 

"So you feel like introducing me to these hundreds of people?" Luke asked.

"There aren't nearly a hundred people in here," Julie argued. "There are only about 60 or 70 of us on my dad's side when everyone is here, and not everyone is here." She informed him.

"It's still a lot of people, more than I have ever seen for one family." He said, "and I had Thanksgiving with Alex once." He added. 

"Seeing as the boys seem quite happy with some of my older cousins over there I guess I had better." She agreed taking, a few more bites of his eggs. He would complain if he had not gotten more than he could eat on purpose.

"Julie, Luke!!" Carlos called from across the room finally spotting the duo. They turned to look at him. "Look" he pointed above them and long and behold there was a piece of mistletoe above their heads hung from a branch on the Christmas tree. And Carlos has altered everyone in the room with his yelling so they now had an audience. Julie was blushing like crazy, at having an audience not about kissing Luke she did that plenty. Luke grabbed her hands gently leaned down and planted a chaste kiss against her lips. The kiss sent warmth through her like sparks, it happened every time they kissed and she still couldn't place it. She squeezed his hands gently letting him know that had been the right thing to do, as her family clapped. She tugged his hands ever so gently silently wishing to kiss him again. He was blushing too now.

"Why are they clapping?" He asked. Just as an older aunt dashed towards them removing the plant.

"Too many people in here who hung the mistletoe?" She asked. If someone did do it they weren't willing to admit it. She just shook her head and went to put it in the kitchen away from all the people. Muttering about cousins kissing as she went. The crowd dispersed back to what they had been doing before as Julie tugged him further back behind the Christmas tree. 

"Now that no one is watching us I would like a proper kiss hmm?" She asked him. He smirked at her and leaned forward a lot less chaste than before. Eventually, she pushed against his chest breaking the kiss. "Much better," she informed him, leaning her head against his shoulder again. "Now let's meet some of my family? Shall we?" She asked. Offering him a hand to lead him around the room. Introducing him to great uncles and aunts and her grandma first and then her aunts and uncles and then finally her cousin, starting with a few cute little baby ones that they probably cooed over a little too long, before finally ending with the group of cousins her age who were playing a card game in one corner. The boys were with them, and Julie and Luke just kinda slid right into the game. 

Lunch came quickly since it was already pretty late, it was another buffet-style meal with sandwich fixings taking up a whole long table. The boys were being teenagers and had a competition to see who could make the best sandwich.

They had organized sledding after lunch, there was only an inch or less of snow on the ground but it was enough to slide on some of the insane hills around the lodge. It was cold though, a cold none of them were used to. They got nice and bundled up but they all still ended up huddled inside by the fire with hot chocolate after less than an hour. Seeing the snow had given Julie and Luke some writing inspiration so they were huddled in one corner doing that. 

Willie and Alex had laid themselves across one of the many sofas watching something on Julie's laptop with headphones as some of Julie's cousins were also watching a movie on the tv. Reggie and Flynn were amused by the movie and something on Flynn's phone at the same time, as Reggie had trouble focusing on just one thing. Some of the adults were still out supervising the children sledding, others were here with the younger children. Some of the adults were playing Apples to Apples and some of the oldest cousin's played with them. The younger ones had been told they weren't allowed as they were playing with an adult deck. Everyone was back from sledding by 2 o'clock and then there were more group activities. Luke was impressed at whoever organized this ability to keep everyone entertained. He had always found himself bored or holed up somewhere writing during his family gatherings. 

They had arts and crafts for the young kids and a variety of games set out on different tables around the great room. There was also a movie being played for anyone who wasn't interested in anything else going on. All the aunts were in the kitchen getting ready for dinner, and by 4 pm the whole lodge smelled amazing. They had tried to get Julie to join them in the kitchen with some of her cousins but she had been in the middle of a crazy game of Pictionary. It was total chaos but somehow organized chaos. Alex and even Reggie who often found themselves overwhelmed by social situations were having the time of their lives. 

Willie, who was still adjusting to having a family again, was sitting back more, but he was quite enjoying watching his boyfriend have a good time. 

Dinner was quite the affair, the uncles dragged 10 of the bench-like tables end to end so that they could all eat at one long table. It wasn't fancy but it was hardy and good and the boys very much enjoyed themselves. Julie assured them that the Christmas dinner would top it but the boys didn't believe it. 

After dinner, they curled up with sweets and hot chocolate. Someone convinced everyone to do karaoke, the band was immediately banned from singing together till the very end, as that gave them an unfair advantage. Everyone quite enjoyed embarrassing themselves for a few hours and then finally someone asked if the band could do something. It wasn't the same without Alex's drums but they still got a standing ovation. To settle everyone down they got another round of hot chocolate and yet another Christmas movie after everyone got into pajamas. Julie got back into her Christmas pajama pants and oversized flannel. The main living room became a blanket fort. Luke didn't even know where all the pillows and blankets had come from. He was surprised by how quiet it became despite the fact that there were 50+ family members gathered in the living room. Luke wasn't afraid to admit he fell asleep curled up between Reggie and Alex. 

"Are they always like this?" Someone asked Julie. Smiling at the boys basically piled on top of one another.

"Yeah, they have been friends for a really long time and have even lived together for a while," Julie said. She realized then she didn't actually know how long they had all been friends, she knew it was a long time though, and not just because they sat in limbo for 25 years. Everyone had been eager to meet the boys, glad that Ray and his family had found joy again after losing Rose. They had not been told much about them other than they were coming to spend Christmas with them. Which was enough for the family to assume they either liked Julie and her family a whole lot or they didn't like their own families a whole lot or worse didn't have a family to spend the holidays with. Some of the family was worried about her being in what they called a boy band but when they saw how they all interacted with one another they realized there was nothing to worry about. It was 10 pm when the movie ended and everyone started disappearing to their own rooms. The boys stayed asleep curled around each other. Julie had fallen asleep too shortly after the boys and Ray was inclined to let her stay, she had spent a few nights in the studio with the boys before, and he had spent enough time with the boys by now. He trusted them with her and knew he had nothing to worry about. His family seemed surprised since the boys' cover story claimed they had only been to visit once, but they didn't comment. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thats the end again sorry its late


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Christmas part 3 of 4 Christmas eve. Reggie decided it was his turn to bond with Julie, we had Alex bonding a while back and have had plenty of Juke recently now it's Reggie's turn.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let's just agree I'm really bad at uploading chapters on time kay??

Julie was disoriented upon waking up. She wasn't sure where she was, but she was with Luke so she must be safe right? She blinked a few times, it was hella early, what had woken her up? Then she heard it again, banging in the kitchen. Right her aunts lodge Christmas eve lots of people to feed. She sat up removing Luke's arms from around her waist gently. Reggie was sitting on the couch, Julie forgot he was an annoyingly early riser. 

"You guys are so adorable." He said quietly. 

"Thank you?" She muttered. 

"I wish I could have gotten pictures although I'm sure your family did get pictures from our pile last night." He shrugged.

"What are you doing, also how did you get yourself out of the pile without waking us?" She asked. He pointed to the TV which was already playing cartoons on low volume the captions were on. He made a poof motion with his hands meaning he had teleported become of course he had. She rolled her eyes.

"It's kinda hard to keep up with the words but." He shrugged again "I didn't wanna wake anyone up." He patted the couch beside Him offering her part of the blanket he was under.

"I'm sure my aunts wouldn't mind help in the kitchen if you're bored," Julie told him, climbing up on the couch next to him. Recently Reggie had shown an interest in cooking. 

"I always liked cooking." That was all he said in response. It was a few minutes before he spoke again. "I learned to cook when I was really little, reading had never been my strong suit when I was 8 one night we ran out of TV dinners, my mom was at book club and my dad was at work, this was only a year after I met the boys so I couldn't go over to one of their houses to eat. I found my mom's cookbook and I made something, it was like baked chicken and pasta. Something really simple. This was before the fighting got really bad, both my parents came home and I had set the table for a fancy-ish dinner, it's one of my happiest memories of them." He concluded. "My mom spent the entire summer teaching me to cook that year I'm not sure to this day if she did it because she wanted to or because she knew it meant she didn't have to cook anymore." He said sadly. Julie reached over to hug him tightly. "Thank you," he murmured into her chest. 

"Now why don't we leave these two idiots to sleep. I need a cup of coffee and I'm serious, I'm sure my aunts could use your help." Julie said. Reggie nodded, flipping off the TV and following her into the kitchen where he was quickly put to work.

It was about an hour later after a few more family members had started gathering in the main room that Luke entered the kitchen sleepily seeking out Julie to say good morning. In his sleepy state, he didn't notice anyone else in the kitchen except Julie as he wrapped his arms around her waist planting a kiss into her hair. She giggled at him, he really was a pup, py especially in the mornings. 

"You guys are so cute, how long have you been together, it can't have been long since you guys lived so far away." One aunt said.

"About what 5 weeks now?" Julie looked at Luke for confirmation, but he wasn't awake enough to answer. 

"You're so touchy I would have thought longer but then again I guess you guys did just meet in person a few weeks ago." She said, raising an eyebrow.

"All the boys are touch-oriented, it's a thing didn't you see the literal pile in the living room?" She asked, taking a bite of an apple from the fruit bowl on the counter. "Plus I haven't seen them in 4 weeks, we did the whole long-distance for a bit since they were moving to LA after the new year anyway." She shrugged, taking another bite. Her aunt looked stunned at how casual she was about it. She had hoped to get more out of Julie than had from Ray but had somehow had gotten less. 

"They are moving to LA?" She asked that was one new thing she had gotten from Julie.

"Yeah, they are driving back with us to LA," Julie said. 

"And their parents don't care?" Another aunt asked.

"Willie, Alex, and Luke are all 18 and none of us have lived with our parents in a while," Reggie assured her. 

"Nothing was keeping Arizona except school," Luke said catching onto the conversation in time to save Reggie before he said something that messed up their stories. Reggie gave him a look somewhere between irritated and thankful, Julie didn't even know it was possible to combine those two emotions. 

Luke reached over Julie to steal her cup of coffee sitting on the counter.

"Uh no you are hyper enough you don't need coffee," Julie complained. 

"I'm only hyper when I'm awake," he was cut off by a yawn. "I'm not awake yet," he finished drinking her coffee. 

"I don't like coffee," Reggie said unhelpfully.

"Good you don't need coffee either," Julie told him, snatching her cup back from Luke. "Get your own," She told him. 

"But my amazing girlfriend already has amazing coffee." He pouted flirtatiously. She rolled her eyes at him and handed him an empty mug from the counter and pointed to the three coffee makers that lined the other counter. 

"Get your own! She said. 

"Fine," he pouted again and she leaned over to kiss him because his pouty face always made her want to kiss him.

"And they have forgotten there are other people in the room." Reggie laughed when Luke set the still empty mug down to tug Julie closer. 

"No making out in public spaces." Willie joked entering the kitchen with Alex.

"Especially the kitchen being distracted causes injuries," Alex added. It took a moment more before Julie broke the kiss.

"He's got a point," she told Luke. "There are a lot of people in here, and there will soon be more, we don't need to be standing here kissing." She finished. Luke smirked at her like he had made a huge accomplishment getting her to embarrass herself in front of her aunts, took the coffee cup from the counter, and went to get his own cup of coffee like he had been asked. Then he left the kitchen.

Flynn entered then looking between the two as Luke left. She had clearly seen the whole thing from the doorway.

"You two are seriously disgusting." She said. "Do you have to do that while we are getting ready to eat?" She added just for emphasis. 

Julie knew many more of these annoyed comments from her friends, like she and Luke did this all the time, because they, did, were gonna make people ask questions. She just laughed.

"Get used to it, you are gonna see a lot more of us together now that we aren't living so far apart." She shot Flynn a look, not annoyed or angry, almost worried, at how close she thought they were getting to screwing up. Then again maybe she was just paranoid. But she and Luke could also stand not to look so attached at the hip. She would have to talk with the whole gang later. Breakfast went smoothly, she sat at the other end of the table from her younger cousins who were playing footsies, and Luke's hand rested on her thigh the whole time. Then they'll crowded back into her room, 

"I love your family seriously but it's nice to get out of the big crowd of them," Alex admitted, laying back across Julie's unmade bed. Julie and Luke sat cuddled near the headboard, Reggie and Flynn sat near the foot of the bed, and Willie lay horizontally across the middle of the bed, Alex lay across the bed vertically and therefore across Willie as well. 

"Yeah I know they are my family and I still get overwhelmed by them." Julie agreed.

"When are we going home again?" Willie asked.

"I'm going back on the 27th, it's my dad's week to have me," Flynn explained. Her parents were divorced but both lived in LA. At her age, she basically chose where she stayed but sometimes especially during the holidays she had to be with one of them at a specific time. 

"We are all going back on the 29th in time for a new year's party," Julie told them. "And I invited Carrie and Nick," she informed the boys. "Nick still doesn't know about the ghost stuff so you guys are gonna have to be careful." She reminded them. "But that's not the point because I will give you this whole lecture again before the party, for now, we are chilling away from my family for a bit because they are overwhelming." She agreed. They stayed in their own little world just talking for a good chunk of the morning. 

"So like even if we get offered something we can't do much till after I graduate or at least until this summer and only if we are back in time for school to start again, I mean I could switch to a few online classes but that would be hard to keep up with if we are say on tour, and I'm not dropping out I wanna walk the stage with my friends," she informed them. The boys already knew that School had to come first, her Dad had made that really clear. 

"Yeah but we have to get something first, I really thought we would get lots of calls after the Orpheum commented.

"Us too trust me," Luke said. "Although if we had crossed over that would have caused problems." He added.

"Don't joke about that." Julie pouted burrowing against him.

"I thought we had gotten to where we could joke about that?" Reggie asked, confused.

"Can we even do anything if we aren't alive legally?" Alex asked the group. 

"I know I know," Julie sighed. "Who knew you guys being alive would cause more problems?" She asked rhetorically.

"Everyone love, everyone," Flynn told her friend, patting her arm gently. Before her phone rang and she excused herself from the pile. She came back a few minutes later "that was my mom she was just letting me know she will be here in a couple of hours." She told them.

They sat in silence for a while before Luke spoke.

"I haven't touched my guitar except for last night for almost 48 hours, it feels weird, wrong almost. We spend like our entire day in the studio usually but we have had so much other stuff to do while we are here, it's amazing but when I think about not practicing it just feels wrong." He admitted 

"Yeah I know the feeling, I'm so used to wailing away at my drums every day but I haven't even had them to touch in a couple of days." Alex agreed. "And Reggie you do not get to comment about how you have played every morning we are not all morning people." Alex looked at his best friend as he was about to speak.

"How do you guys do that, it's weird." Julie and Flynn said at the same time.

"How do you guys do that?" Reggie asked back sarcastically. Julie just gave him another glare and they lapsed back into silence before Flynn got an idea.

"We could go practice down in the basement, I mean I don't have a solution to the lack of drums but," she shrugged.

"I totally forgot that the teen space was downstairs, everyone had had so much else to do I don't think too many have been down there," Julie said. 

"There is a basement??" Reggie asked.

"Where we could have been practicing all this time?" Luke added. 

"In Julie's defense," Alex started but was interrupted by Julie.

"What do I need defense for, it's not like I purposefully didn't tell you I forgot." She argued. Alex gave her a look and shrugged.

"OK in Flynn's defense then." he said, "in Flynn's defense if she had told us we would have been down there every second of every day and not enjoying ourselves up here in the land of the living." He reminded his friends.

"That's not," Luke started but was cut off from matching glares from pretty much everyone else in the room. "OK fair enough that's probably, true." He sighed in defeat. 

"Well let's go then," Reggie said excitedly, summoning his bass without thinking. 

"Reggie what if someone had been in your room?" Flynn asked him. 

"What do you mean?" He asked. "What if someone saw your bass disappear?" She asked, rephrasing her question. 

"Right sorry I got excited." He sighed.

"We have to be careful around my family, luckily no one was gonna go in your room," Julie informed him, patting him on the back as she moved to leave the room. 

They dashed down to the basement now that they knew they could, they even found one of those drum pads for Alex. They practiced till lunch, and then barely paused to eat, they were just singing and dancing around for fun now. Some of Julie's cousins had joined and it was starting to be a bit of a party down there. They settle down to watch more Christmas movies after dinner. The boys haven't seen the Santa Clause trilogy so they were bingeing the whole thing. Flynn's mom showed up right before they sat down to the first one. People started passing around eggnog they usually waited till Christmas eve to drink it, and Julie didn't really like it.

"Woah that is um," Alex coughs.

"I should have warned you not to drink it sorry." Flynn laughed.

"What, it's fine?" Reggie looked confused. Julie sniffed his glass.

"Nope definitely alcoholic." She shook her head. "My grandmother makes it," she explained. 

"Ah" was the only response she got from the boys. "It's fine I just wasn't expecting it," Alex said, taking another sip. None of them really drank it after that but all four boys continued to sip on it. 

"Because there are so many people, here we open presents twice," Julie explained, near ten that night. After all three movies had finished. "We each open one Christmas eve and trust me when I say all the presents under the tree will be gone, then we open more again in the morning." She told them as trash bags were spread out and presents began being handed out. "We take turns everyone's names are in there." She pointed to a box. "When your name gets called you open your gift, all our gifts tonight are from adults, we can exchange gifts tomorrow." She assured them when they started trying to get up to go get presents from their room. 

The boys each received a new phone, Alex got one with a pale pink case, Reggie had a red one, Luke had a blue one, and Willie had a neon green one.

"I figured these will be useful, I know you guys were contacting Julie via email mostly so you know and there was a sale," he shrugged. No one questioned it.

Julie and Carlos received matching ones, Carlos' a light blue, and Julie's a purple.

"I know you guys don't really know how to use them but between Flynn and Julie, they can explain it," Ray told them later after everyone had cleared out.

"This is a great gift." Alex assured him, "This will make talking to Julie a lot easier." He added.

"I will help you get them set up tomorrow," Julie assured them. They settled down to sleep then. Luke in his own room because apparently, Flynn's mom snored so Flynn and Julie were having a sleepover.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No, I don't hate Flynn it's just a statistic 50% of marriages end in Divorce nowadays, plus I thought it might be nice for Reggie to have someone to talk to about that kind of thing when he's ready. And what's happened with Carrie since she found out about the boys will be discussed in a few chapters. I based Julie's family Christmas after my own experience with my mother's very large family. One more chapter of Christmas for Christmas Morning/day.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Christmas chapter 4 of 4 Christmas morning and another surprise from the council.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And the first time I have updated on time in weeks. Updates may slow again soon because I am running out of my writing ahead and I haven't been writing near as much as I should have.

Reggie was the first up as usual. Willie and Alex were snuggled on one bed, they had started in a pile like always. But Willie and Alex had settled onto the other bed at some point the night. Leaving Reggie curled awkwardly around Luke. 

He stretched out his hand reaching under his pillow, his hand brushing a large manila envelope. He sat up pulling it out from under the pillow. It had his full name written on it in an official-looking script. He shook Luke awake. It was almost 10 minutes before he was a functioning human being, in that time Reggie had woke Alex and Willie, and gotten dressed. 

Willie and Alex were making the beds and pulled out similar folders from under their pillows. Luke dove under his own pillow pulling out a fourth envelope.

"I swear that wasn't there a minute ago," Reggie said.

"I bet it's more ghost shit," Willie said. "Like your instrument summoning." He explained when the boys looked at him confused. "You can only summon your own instruments, right? Not each other's?" He asked. The boys nodded. "This is like that whatever is in the envelopes belongs to you so only you could find them." He said.

"One of them is yours too." Alex reminded him. Willie just smiled. 

"But what is it?" Reggie asked the boys.

"I dunno should we wake Julie and Flynn?" Alex asked, he looked kinda nervous. 

"It's only 7 am," Luke complained. 

"OK I'm gonna go get us all coffee, I'm sure people are already up and then we will meet in Julie's room in 20 minutes?" Reggie asked. Since he was the only one already dressed. The boys nodded. Reggie went to get them all some coffee, well actually he got him and Alex tea because coffee just made Alex more anxious and it just made him sleepy, plus he didn't really like the taste. This gave the boys plenty of time to get dressed, even gave Luke time to take a quick shower, he was the only one of the boys who hadn't showered while they were here. Reggie walked into Julies room 20 minutes later with a tray of drinks.

"Aunts in the kitchen said breakfast, ready in 30 minutes and we are opening presents at 9." He informed them. Julie and Flynn were rubbing sleep from their eyes, it was way too early, they were each luckily handed a cup of coffee almost right away. 

"Go ahead, open them carefully," Julie instructed them when she was a little more awake. The first thing each boy pulls out is a letter if it can even be called that. It's a piece of paper with formal looking writing with the same cryptic message of enjoy earth signed, 'Courtesy of the Council.' The folders looked like they had only contained the letters, but when the boys looked again there was another document. Each boy had a birth certificate with their proper name and birth date but with the proper birth year for them to be the ages, they appear to be. 2001 for Willie 2002 for Alex and Luke and 2003 for Reggie. Next, each boy pulls out a flash drive, that when plugged into Julie's laptop shows school records for a highschool in Lund Nevada, and immunization records. The folders again look empty, but when the boys look again there are two last objects in the folders. A plastic cardholder with a social security card and a legal ID for the state of Nevada, and they each had a passport as well. It took a few minutes for it all to sink in especially when half of them were still half asleep. But finally, Flynn spoke.

"I think your wacky doodle ghost council just solved your alive problem." She said. "I'm not an expert but I'm pretty sure these documents make you legally alive teenage boys." She informed them.

"We should wake Ray, he will know what to do," Reggie suggested in his usual cheery way.

"Let him sleep a little longer," Julie told him, stopping him from leaving the room. 

"We can show him this afternoon." Flynn agreed. "He will know if it's all legit but other than that he won't know any more than we do, and unless one of you has told him about the ghost council it will just confuse him more." She added.

"He knows about the council," Willie confirmed.

"But Julie and Flynn are right." He added when it looked like Reggie was gonna leave the room again. "The council will do whatever they want and apparently they really want us to enjoy earth. Which includes not only being physically alive but legally alive." He said.

They lapse into silence before the girls kick them out so they can get ready for the day. The boys go to get some breakfast and soon the girls join them. Carlos and Ray aren't far behind. But by then the boys have completely forgotten about the paperwork left hidden in Julie's bedroom. By the time everyone had eaten breakfast the area underneath the tree was again overflowing with presents. 

They made everyone gather in the living room again and the presents started being piled by who they were from. The gift exchange began and it was as chaotic as everything else was on Julie's family. The boys had all gotten presents for each other and for Flynn and Julie they had been worried about getting something for Carlos too but Julie had assured them that Carlos would have plenty of presents from everyone else. Which they no longer doubted, when after the gift exchange he had at least 15 stacked beside him. Julie had the 5 from her friends and a few other small things from her family members. Ray had already given all the kids their gifts the night before. 

Julie insisted the boys open her gifts first so, for Alex she got a weighted blanket, to help with his anxiety. A fidget cube for Reggie, none of the boys could sit still but it was worst for Reggie. She got Luke a new beanie. Willie received a new helmet because now that he was alive his old cracked one was not safe, and she got Flynn a necklace with her name on it to match her own Julie necklace. 

Luke went next, for Alex, he got a new pair of drum sticks not that he really needed them he had a lot of pairs but it was the thought that counted. Reggie got guitar picks because he is always losing them. He got Willie a new pair of headphones since the skateboarder doesn't play any instruments. Originally they were for his iPod but Julie said he could use them with his new phone too. He knew how much Julie liked butterflies so he got her a beautiful charm bracelet with Butterflies. One of a different color for everyone important in her life. He had not been sure what to get Flynn but after seeing her play the tambourine that one time, he decided to give it to her. It was just the one from the studio, but it was the meaning that counted. It stood as a reminder that she was part of the band. 

After the sweet gift from Luke Flynn insisted that the boys and Julie open her gifts next. She got Willie some tennis shoes, he had complained a few weeks prior that he only had one pair, and since he had come back to life that had started wearing out. She got Reggie some colorful animal silly bracelets, another fidget toy of sorts. She gave Alex a pride flag, he had been more open about his sexuality since he and Flynn talked and had shown interest in having a flag for the studio, and going to the parade when it happened the next summer. She got Julie a cute pair of Butterfly earrings that matched the bracelet Luke got her. She also had not been sure what you get Luke but he had complained about not being able to find any of his favorite cologne from when he was alive so she got him a very similar one, with some help from Julie's nose. 

Alex went next somewhat nervously he hoped he had chosen good gifts for his friends. He had gotten Reggie a new red Flannel to add to his collection, and gotten Willie some hair ties, practical and pretty. He got Luke some guitar picks because he was always breaking, probably because he stuck them in his mouth but Alex wasn't gonna tell him that. He got Julie matching butterfly hair clips. He got Flynn some nice perfume he had seen an almost empty bottle in her bedroom at their last sleepover. 

Finally, Willie went because Reggie insisted on going last. He got Reggie and Luke practical gifts, some new guitar strings for Luke's acoustic, and a nice used but nice leather Jacket for Reggie. He got Alex some nail polish which made him blush, but he had seen how happy Alex looked when he showed him his nails that Flynn had painted. He got Julie some glitter eye shadow, and he got Flynn a bracelet that matched Julie's. 

Finally, Reggie presented them each with matching boxes, with matching sweaters. Because of course, he did because he thought it was funny. They were all a red color with green Christmas trees with rainbow bobbles. Julie humored him and immediately put her new sweater on the boys and Flynn the following suit.

By the time everyone had finished opening presents and those of them who went had come back from Christmas mass, it was time for lunch. They had a light lunch and then a lot of the cousins went outside or to the basement to play with their new toys, leaving the lounge almost empty. The boys and Julie and Flynn still thought it was way too cold outside so they stayed in the lounge. Julie gave the boys a crash course on how their new phones worked, Luke and Willie picked up on it easier than Alex and Reggie. Reggie had trouble figuring it out because he had no patience and it just stressed Alex out. It wasn't long before Reggie and Alex were roped into helping in the kitchen though, apparently, Alex could bake as well. They looped Flynn and Willie into helping to leave Julie and Luke alone. 

Julie shivered and tugged Luke closer to her and to the fire. Luke just smiled and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear so he could admire her new earrings. He got some amazing gifts and he got to cuddle with his favorite person, and the lodge was so warm it made him sleepy, but not so warm he was uncomfortable. But he couldn't help but miss his parents at this time of year, he had run away just before Christmas. They had been doing so much better since Julie gave than 'Unsaid Emily' he had been to see them a few times, but it was becoming harder to stay invisible. They used to have to concentrate to be solid and visible like holding a button-down. Now it was the opposite at least with being invisible. They could still teleport and summon their instruments with no trouble, but Luke suspected it wasn't long before those too began to fade. So he hadn't been recently afraid he would accidentally become visible and scare them. He hugged Julie closer.

Julie smiled, she loved Luke, she knew that. She loved her family all around her even if it was crazy. But she couldn't help but miss her mom, while Christmas wasn't her mother's favorite holiday and it wasn't as hard as her own birthday knowing she was a year older than her mom would ever see her, it was still hard not to miss her. Having Luke around, helped, knowing he understood to a degree how she felt. 

"What's up?" Luke asked her, brushing her curls off her forehead, brushing his lips across it in their place gently.

"I miss my mom." She whispered, she wasn't crying yet but he could hear in her voice how sad she was.

"Me too Jules me too," he sighed, hugging her even closer although he had thought that was impossible. It was a few minutes before Julie got herself together.

"Come on we can't sit here being sad," she declared.

"Well, what if we aren't being sad?" Luke asked Mischievously. Julie raised an eyebrow at him. "What? The lodge is almost empty," He said. He pouted at her, he knew she loved his pouty face.

"You are the worst," Julie told him, leaning over to kiss him on the lips. 

"Yes but it worked didn't it?" He asked between kisses. 

"As much as we would love to watch y'all make out Rays free now and we wanna show him that other thing." Flynn reminded them entering the room.

"Right," Julie said looking just a little sheepish at being caught. The boys would then tease Luke for the rest of the vacation about being caught with his tongue down Julie's throat no matter how many times he told them he hadn't. 

Flynn made Julie wait till she wasn't so flushed, cause what are best friends for? Before sending her to get her dad. While she went with the boys to get the folders from Julie's room.

"These appeared under our pillows this morning," Alex told him, handing him the folder with all his documents in it. 

"We figured you're the adult you would know what to do with them," Reggie said. Ray raised an eyebrow and opened the folder. 

"These are legal documents." Ray exclaimed, "for you guys." He took a shaky breath.

"We think the council was involved," Willie explained.

"Well??" Luke asked.

"What?" Ray asked while Alex smacked Luke across the shoulder.

"Are they legit?" Luke asked. He looked somewhere between nervous and excited.

"I'm not an expert but they seem to be," Ray confirmed. 

"We figured you would be the expert," Reggie commented. "You know you're an adult so…" Reggie trailed off. 

"Technically three of the four of you are adults too." Was Ray's response.

"Yeah but you're like a real adult," Alex argued. "You know how to do all that adulting stuff, we are just over the age of 18." He said. 

"I'll teach you alright?" Ray promised. "And if I'm being honest I learned from mistakes too, we all do." He whispered.

"I think I speak for all of us when I say we would appreciate that very much," Luke says.

The rest of the afternoon is spent relaxing by the fire, or in the kitchen where Reggie and Alex were having a blast. 

Dinner was amazing, two turkeys and two chickens and ham. Plus probably over 10 pounds of potatoes. Green bean casserole, sweet potato casserole, and stuffing. Three types of bread, and two types of gravy. For dessert, they had 6 types of pie. If anyone left that table hungry it was their own fault. 

"Am I supposed to be so full I feel almost sick?" Reggie asked as they lounged in the living room later. He had not had a big family holiday like that since he was little.

"Yes," Julie informed him from where she lay across the couch head resting on Luke's chest.

"And sleepy," Luke said. 

"It's called a food coma," Willie informed them. "It's perfectly normal." He assured them from where he lays sprawled across the carpet.

"So full, so sleepy." Is all that came from Alex, they spent the rest of that night lounging around.

The rest of their vacation was amazing. As more and more people left the lodge the boys became more and more relaxed. They loved Julie's family, they really did but it was kinda stressful being surrounded by people. Flynn and her mom left the day after Christmas but even though she was with her dad she still video chatted with Julie and the Band every day. When it came time for them to go home it was a bit of a squeeze in the car, but they made it work. Reggie and Carlos sat in the middle row, and Willie, Alex, and Luke crowded in the back. Julie won for the front seat and refused to sit in the back with Luke no matter how much he pouted. Once they get home they were quick to settle back into their lives in the studio. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, I know what the council did is super illegal and super impossible. But they are the council they can do whatever they want and it doesn't have to be explained. But yeah they got the right state, and the right names and dates because as we already established the council knows all, and they have totally been watching the boys, as has Rose. And they totally just, like snapped their fingers and pulled those documents from thin air.

**Author's Note:**

> This chapter is a little awkward But it's kinda just a base for the rest of the week so it will get better.


End file.
